FINAL 3 Ottawa Senators @ 0 NY Rangers Jan 12, 2012 7pm.

wprager wrote:

NEELY wrote:Ottawa can compete with any team in the East right now other than Boston. Best spot for Ottawa to finish would probably be 6th but that would mean a 2nd round meeting with Boston... for an extended run probably 4th as that mean they probably won't end up playing Boston in the 1st or 2nd round but Philly or NYR is a much harder out than Florida.

I want them to play Toronto at some point. If the beat the Leafs in the 1st and then are out in the 2nd I'll be OK. There are still players on this team who remember.

As for Boston, I still maintain they cannot keep this up for close to 200 games. This isn't the '70s when guys could start training in training camp,smoke in-between periods, and still win 4 Cups in a row.

SpezDispenser wrote:

spader wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:

NEELY wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:I still want to just make the playoffs. Everything else we'll deal with later...just make it in at this point.

Unless a major injury hits or they somehow go on some wierd, extended losing streak, they are a playoff team. How people still doubt that at this point is beyond my understanding.

It's not like it's a guarantee by any stretch.

Ha. Neely only speaks in guarantees.

Doesn't that mean he's a Sith or something?

Number Twenty Nine wrote:

wprager wrote:

NEELY wrote:Ottawa can compete with any team in the East right now other than Boston. Best spot for Ottawa to finish would probably be 6th but that would mean a 2nd round meeting with Boston... for an extended run probably 4th as that mean they probably won't end up playing Boston in the 1st or 2nd round but Philly or NYR is a much harder out than Florida.

I want them to play Toronto at some point. If the beat the Leafs in the 1st and then are out in the 2nd I'll be OK. There are still players on this team who remember.

As for Boston, I still maintain they cannot keep this up for close to 200 games. This isn't the '70s when guys could start training in training camp,smoke in-between periods, and still win 4 Cups in a row.

not me. They haven't beat the Leafs in the playoffs. I'm sure they're still in our head.

wprager wrote:
No Redden, Fisher, Kelly, Hossa, Havlat, Lalime. Also no Roberts, Tucker, Domi, Sundin. Guys like Greening, Condra, Smith, Karlsson, Anderson, Michalek, Turris, Gonchar, Kuba have no recollection of any of that. Same for Carkner/Konopka (the tough guys). It would be primarily for the fans.

tim1_2 wrote:

wprager wrote:
No Redden, Fisher, Kelly, Hossa, Havlat, Lalime. Also no Roberts, Tucker, Domi, Sundin. Guys like Greening, Condra, Smith, Karlsson, Anderson, Michalek, Turris, Gonchar, Kuba have no recollection of any of that. Same for Carkner/Konopka (the tough guys). It would be primarily for the fans.

You also forgot: No Belfour, Nieuwendyk, or any other Leafs for that matter.

The playoff curse of Ottawa vs Toronto is a distant memory. When there are NO players from those Leaf teams remaining in Toronto, it doesn't mean much.

wprager wrote:

spader wrote:

NEELY wrote:Even then they need to win another 3 in a row and Otawa lose 3 in a row for them to touch them in the standings... not gonna happen.

Ha. Ya. They have to be "in a row" because...why exactly? They can't win 3 more out of the remaining 30+ games?

Because if they aren't in a row the end of the season gets closer and closer, and they are still behind. Hard to win a lot of games without going on a streak, and as streaks go, 3 in a row is fairly short.

spader wrote:

wprager wrote:

spader wrote:

NEELY wrote:Even then they need to win another 3 in a row and Otawa lose 3 in a row for them to touch them in the standings... not gonna happen.

Ha. Ya. They have to be "in a row" because...why exactly? They can't win 3 more out of the remaining 30+ games?

Because if they aren't in a row the end of the season gets closer and closer, and they are still behind. Hard to win a lot of games without going on a streak, and as streaks go, 3 in a row is fairly short.

I think you're missing the point. I was just saying that Winnipeg go spread the wins out and still overtake the Sens. I was responding to the absolutes that N4L sometimes presents.

wprager wrote:Every month they improved a little. Right after New Year's I did a little math, and if we got 16 points in January we'd be on a 92 or 94-point pace, which is good enough for 8th most years. Right now they have 11 points in 6 games in January. They have 8 games remaining to get 5 points. With stops in Anaheim, Phoenix, Montreal, LA and Toronto, and a home date with Winnipeg, we should be able to win 3 of those games. I think getting 16 points in January is close to a guarantee at this point, and with the way Anderson is playing now I think the upside is much, much higher. We are 2 points out of 4th.

And as for Boston, the won 2-1 in Montreal on a weird bounce off the glass (Price went behind the net, puck came out right to the crease for a tap-in on an empty net) and a top-six forward traded half way through the game. Since the 9-0 drubbing of the Flames, the Bruins lost to Vancouver, scored a 3rd period come-back win against the Jets, and last night's squeaker against those powerful smurfs in bleu-blanc-rouge.

I'm not saying Boston is weak or even weakening, but they have had games where they've shown an ability to come out flat. Ignoring their poor start in October, they have scored a shootout win against Columbus at home, a 1-0 win in Montreal, a shootout against Buffalo, a shootout loss to Detroit, a loss in Winnipeg, a home loss to Florida, an OT win in Phoenix, the aforementioned squeakers against the Habs, and losses to Dallas and Vancouver.

Of course, no team is going to win 82 games in convincing fashion, nor is it unheard of for the best team to have a clunker and lose to the worst team. And Ottawa has had their share of clunkers against weaker opponents, too. All I'm saying is that Boston will be in a fight in the third, and they better have a lead because I don't think they will be scoring any 3rd period come backs against Ottawa.

Chris Schwarz for MVP? (Most Valuable Physio guy)

wprager wrote:They learned early on in the season that they *can* come back and score a bunch of goals even if they were down 5-0. They also learned that, even if you score a bunch, it's really hard to come back from that deep a hole.

You notice how they rarely get behind by more than 2 goals before responding?

Big Ev wrote:Sens were never in a rebuild

Big Ev wrote:Sens were never in a rebuild

SeawaySensFan wrote:

Big Ev wrote:Sens were never in a rebuild

I've been saying as much for months.